The mood in the Stewart household was tense.
"I still can't get through," Jackson said as he hung up the phone once more.
"Keep trying," Miley urged, although she wasn't optimistic about her brother being successful. Ever since she'd gotten home the previous evening, she had been taking turns with her father and brother in trying to reach Mikayla. Unfortunately, they didn't have her current cell phone number and the people manning the phones at the Tipton hotel's front desk were not being very co-operative. They kept dismissing the calls as pranks.
While Jackson tried again, Lily and her boyfriend Oliver arrived and asked Miley how things were going.
"Horrible," their friend answered. "You've seen the news. Whenever I turn on the TV they're either showing that tape of me slamming Mikayla or the tape of London Tipton calling her dad."
"Is your clothing line really cancelled?" Lily asked. While she'd seen the footage London's call on the news, and it had concluded with the heiress seemingly getting her way, there had been no official announcement about what Top Shelf Fashions was going to do.
"I don't know," Miley answered. "Dad's called them a couple of times, but they won't give us any answers. They say they'll get back to us soon." Her lips started to quiver. "But they can't cancel it. They just can't! This line was going to be special!"
Hating to see his friend so upset, Oliver spoke up. "Man, I wish I could find the guy that made that tape of you."
"Yeah, that scummy little parasite has ruined everything," Lily added angrily.
Miley agreed wholeheartedly with their sentiments, but knew that punishing the opportunistic weasel who'd taped her ranting would do no good. "Maybe if I'd tried to call Mikayla yesterday before we went shopping…before that tape had gotten out…maybe I could have gotten through to her then."
"That would have been so much better," Oliver commented. "Because now whenever you do get through to her, it's going to look like you're apologizing just to save your image."
"But that's not the way it is," Miley complained. "I was going to call her to make peace! I was!"
"We know," Lily said as she tried to comfort her distraught friend.
It was then that Robbie Ray entered the room. The expression on his face was not a good one.
"I finally got some answers from the people at Top Shelf Fashions." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Miles."
The amount of calls coming into the Tipton for Mikayla was staggering. It had been bad enough after her performance on the awards show, but now that the 'Hannah versus Mikayla feud' was exploding all over the news things had gotten completely out of hand.
An army of people were gathered outside the hotel. Reporters of course, but also fans…two camps of fans actually. The two groups were easy to tell apart. All one had to do was look at their clothing and see if they were wearing 'Team Mikayla' or 'Team Hannah' tee-shirts.
"Where'd they get all those shirts anyway?" Cody questioned as he looked out the window and down to the street. He was using binoculars to get a close up view of the crowd. "The tape of Hannah just hit the news yesterday and already there are all these tee-shirts out there?"
"Look closer," Zack advised. He had already viewed the crowd through the binoculars. "There are some street vendors down there at the edge of the crowd selling shirts. Probably started printing them up last night as soon as the news starting hitting all the channels." He gave an appreciative grin. "Capitalism in action. Wish I'd thought of it."
"There are more important things to worry about than trying to cash in on Mikayla's misfortune," Carey said sternly.
"This isn't misfortune," Zack argued. "This is great. Mikayla's getting tons of publicity and it's all good. She's the one who's been attacked here. Hannah is the one who comes off looking bad."
"Deservedly so," Cody put in. He was still offended at the things he'd heard Hannah say about his girlfriend.
"Yeah," his twin agreed. "I never knew Hannah was so mean. And to think, I once drew a giant pudding heart on my shirt just for her."
Carey did a double take. "What did you just say?"
"When Hannah was on the S.S. Tipton," he answered. "I tried flirting with her by using the pudding…." Zack trailed off as his mother kept gazing at him with a look of bewilderment. "Okay, I know it sounds weird, but it made sense at the time."
"No," Cody responded dryly. "It really didn't."
"Oh, like you never did anything weird when we were on the ship," Zack countered. "How about the time you covered the deck with garbage and dressed up as a trash-mutant from the future?"
"I was making a political statement," Cody insisted.
"Okay, that's it," Carey said. "I think it might be better if you boys don't go back to the ship when school starts up again. It sounds like there's something in the sea air that makes you both act strangely."
"We can talk about that later," Cody said. "Right now I'm more concerned with Mikayla."
Just as the singer's name was mentioned, a knock was heard on the Martin family's door. Zack opened it to find Mikayla and London.
"Ladies, come on in," he said as she let them in, getting a quick kiss from London as she passed him.
"How are you doing?" Cody asked the singer as she came over to him.
"I don't know what to think," she said. "It's a madhouse downstairs."
"Don't let it get to you," Carey advised. "All this commotion will blow over eventually."
"It's just so strange," Mikayla went on. "In the past couple of days I've become more popular than ever. But before I could start to fully enjoy it, this whole thing with Hannah started."
"Don't you worry about Hannah," London said. "If she gives you any more trouble I'll see that she's crushed. Nobody insults my friends."
Mikayla turned to the heiress with an uncertain look. "But...maybe you shouldn't have killed her clothing line."
"After what she said about you?" London replied. "She's lucky that's the only killing I arranged."
"Mikayla has a point," Carey said. "In a case like this, striking back at Hannah might cause things to escalate."
"At one time I would have loved to be able to ruin Hannah," the young singer admitted. "But I was the one who caused all the bad blood between us in the first place."
"But that's in the past," Cody said. "You've told us all about how things used to be. It wasn't all your fault."
"You had horrible guidance back then," Carey added. "Your manager was hostile to anyone she saw as your competition and she encouraged you to be the same way."
"Still, I should have known better," Mikayla said.
"You know better now," Cody told her. "That's what's important."
Mikayla couldn't help but smile at her boyfriend as he looked at her with his warm and caring eyes. She embraced him and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.
Before any further conversation could commence, another knock was heard at the door. This time it was Mr. Moseby.
"Ah, I'm glad you're both here," the hotel manager said as he looked to London and Mikayla. "Mr. Tipton has sent someone here, a Ms. Quigley, and she wants to talk to both of you at once."
"About what?" London asked.
"She didn't say," Moseby answered. "And quite frankly, I didn't press her for details." He frowned. "The woman is quite unpleasant."
Mikayla looked nervous at this news, and even London seemed a little apprehensive.
"I didn't mean to frighten you," Moseby continued. "Don't worry. I have no intention of letting you girls face this woman alone. I'll stay with you during the meeting."
"Thanks Moseby," London responded with a grateful smile.
Mikayla turned to Carey. "Would you come with me too?"
"Of course I will," she said in a reassuring tone.
"I'm coming too," Cody announced.
"Yeah," Zack added as he moved to London and put an arm around her. "Me too."
And so the entire group followed Mr. Moseby back to his office.
The young teenage girl on the television screen was quite adamant as she talked to the reporter.
"Everyone's trying to make Hannah the bad guy, but she's not!" the girl declared. "She wouldn't have said those things about Mikayla if they weren't true!"
"You're crazy," another teen yelled as she pushed her way into the camera shot. "We've all seen the tape. Now we know what Hannah's really like! She's rotten!"
"No! Hannah's my idol! Mikayla and London are the rotten ones! They're trying to ruin Hannah!"
"Please shut that thing off," Miley said with a catch in her voice. She was weary and her eyes were red.
"At least not everyone's on Mikayla's side," Lily said as she shut off the television. There are plenty of girls in 'Team Hannah' shirts out there.
"Yeah, I guess," Miley replied. "But that doesn't bring back my clothing line. And it doesn't make that tape of my ranting go away."
"Look you know how celebrity gossip is," Oliver said. "After a while some new scandal will come along and everyone will forget about this."
"Will they?" Miley asked. "I don't think so. Oh, it won't be front page news anymore. People won't mention it to me. But they're going to remember." She cast her gaze downward. "I've always tried to be a good role-model and set a good example. But from now on, whatever else I am, I'm always going to be the petty, jealous diva that bad-mouthed Mikayla."
"You can't think that way," Robbie Ray told his daughter as he walked over to where she was seated and handed her a piece of paper. "What do you think of that? I think it would be a good statement to release to the press."
Miley read the note aloud. "I fully intend to comment on the tape of myself that has been seen so much in the news lately. But I will not do so until after I have first had the chance to speak personally to Mikayla, as I feel it is only right that she should hear an apology from me before the rest of the world does."
"That sounds pretty good to me," Lily said, as Oliver nodded in agreement.
"It is good," Miley said. "But we still haven't been able to reach Mikayla."
"I know," her father replied. "So we're going to be direct. Go pack an overnight bag. We're catching the next flight to Boston."
Mikayla found Ms. Quigley to be a very grim and frightening individual. It wasn't that she was horrible looking, in fact, if she let her hair down out of the tight bun it was in and took off her horn-rimmed glasses she might have been quite attractive. No, the unpleasantness about the woman seemed to come more from the inside. She projected an air of coldness and contempt for others that was impossible to ignore.
So it was odd when the woman announced that she was there to help Mikayla.
"Help in what way?" Carey asked. She was the least intimidated one of the group. Her protective instincts towards Mikayla were too strong to allow her to be scared of some stranger.
"In her career of course," Ms Quigley answered in an emotionless tone. "It is important to Mr. Tipton that Mikayla go forward from this scandal and achieve great success."
"And why has Mr. Tipton taken such a personal interest in Mikayla?" Mr. Moseby asked.
Ms. Quigley proceeded to explain. When Mr. Tipton had agreed to cut Hannah Montana's clothing line, he was unaware that London's phone call was being filmed by reporters. When it made the news, it showed that Mr. Tipton could be persuaded to cancel a multi-million dollar deal by his daughter's temper tantrum.
"Naturally," Ms. Quigley said. "That is not the type of image Mr. Tipton wishes to project."
She then went on to say that Mr. Tipton's strategy would be to arrange a massive promotional push for Mikayla's career. That would make it seem that he had cancelled the clothing line not simply because of London's tantrum but because he was supporting a promising young star that had been unfairly attacked by a mean-spirited rival. It was in his best interest to portray Mikayla as a wronged innocent and Hannah as a villain.
"Because you're getting so much attention in the media right now," Ms. Quigley told Mikayla. "It is best to move fast. It should be possible for you to have a new CD released by the end of next month."
Carey and Mikayla both let their jaws drop at this news. That sort of timetable was seemingly impossible. But when they tried to tell Ms. Quigley this, she dismissed their objections.
"The new CD will be released by Mr. Tipton's Soundwave record label on the date I have specified," she said coldly.
"But I haven't signed with Soundwave," Mikayla said. "I haven't signed with any record label yet."
"Yes," Ms. Quigley answered. "I am aware that you are considering numerous offers which have come to you since your appearance at the Youth Scene Music Awards. However I am also aware that the offer you've already received from Soundwave is one of the best. With that in mind, I have been authorized to amend that offer." She opened up her briefcase and pulled out a contract which she then handed to Mikayla. "You'll find that this new offer is identical to the previous one with the exception of the signing bonus…which has been increased by a multiple of twenty."
"Multiple of twenty?" Mikayla gasped. "The signing bonus is TWENTY times as much!"
Her eyes widened as she quickly found the part of the contract that stated the signing bonus. There it was in black and white.
"Oh…my…" Carey said as she read the numbers over Mikayla's shoulders. "You can't pass this up."
"I know," the young singer said. She smiled widely with a look of disbelief in her eyes. "Has anyone ever had a signing bonus this big?"
"Not to my knowledge," Ms. Quigley said, again in an emotionless tone.
"How much is it?" Cody asked.
Mikayla turned to her boyfriend with a triumphant smile. "Let's just say that your brother isn't the only one dating a millionaire." She then grabbed him and pulled him into an excited hug.
"Alright," Zack said happily. "This is awesome!"
"Yay!" London added. "Now my BFF is rich too." She paused and went to glance at the contract. She read it until she found the signing bonus amount. "But not as rich as me! Double yay!"
"Now that the matter has been settled," Ms. Quigley said to Mikayla. "You'll be contacted tomorrow by your new manager. He'll make the arrangements for you to begin work on your CD." She then turned to London. "As for you, Miss Tipton, your father instructed me to tell you two important things. First, continue to be seen in public as Mikayla's good friend. It will be useful for publicity purposes."
"That's no problem," London replied. "Mikayla and I really are good friends. We don't need to pretend just for publicity."
"You're darn right," Mikayla put in with a smile as she leaned against Cody, still hugging him.
"Second, and more importantly…do not phone your father while you are being filmed," Ms. Quigley finished with a very pointed look towards the heiress.
After London agreed to that, the unpleasant Ms. Quigley took her leave. Then a very happy group of friends celebrated Mikayla's good fortune.
To be continued...
author's note: Thanks for reading and please review. Also, I have a question. This weekend I was reading a lot of other fics for fun (some really excellent ones - go check out Just One of the Guys sometime) and I was surprised when I looked at profile pages for some authors and found that they had INSANE amounts of views and hits for their stories. Does anyone know how certain people get so many readers and reviewers? Are there message boards or mailing lists that people advertise their stories on?
Oh, one more note. Everyone knows all the characters in the story are from Disney shows. The only named exceptions are Hermie Pratt and Ms. Quigley, who I created. There will be one more original character of my creation who will be playing a slightly larger role than those two - Mikayla's new manager. He'll debut in the next chapter.